Did you know that Christ followers are described in the New Testament in at least 50 ways? Abraham’s Offspring/Seed. Athletes. Believers. Beloved. The Body of Christ. Branches. Brothers and Sisters. Children of God. Children of Promise. Christ’s Ambassadors. Christians. The Church. The Circumcision. Citizens of Heaven. Conquerors. Disciples. The Elect. Farmers. Fellow Citizens with God’s…

Every good Jewish home would live out Deuteronomy 6:6-7. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” As parents we have…

Scripture tells us that Jesus overturned the shame of his crucifixion. “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15). Satan, and all the powers and authorities aligned with him, were publicly shamed by Christ through the cross. Paul’s audience would understand…

During his dishonorable and shameful arrest and crucifixion, Jesus retained a sense of dignity. When the soldiers approached Jesus in the Garden to arrest him, knowing all that was going to happen to him, Jesus stepped forward. “When Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them,…

Jesus died a shameful death. Why? Why does the Scripture emphasize the shamefulness of his death? Because the cross is where Jesus Christ bore the sin and the shame of the world. Paul wrote, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness…

This week I went to the viewing of a racquetball friend who died with COVID-19. His family and friends gathered at a funeral home to remember him. Some of us racquetball guys arranged to attend the viewing together. Death is never pleasant. We hate death. A few did gather in grief while Jesus was dying…

We experience both honor and shame in public, and nothing was secret or hidden about a crucifixion. Not only was death by crucifixion cruelly painful. It was the ultimate shame. When Jesus stood before Pilate, the crowd cried out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (John 19:6). Jesus was rejected and condemned in public (Matthew 27:24). He…

In the events leading up to Christ’s crucifixion, remember again the shame he suffered for us. Jesus endured the shame of betrayal. Imagine the laughter among the soldiers as his own three-year-long disciple, Judas Iscariot, kissed him (Matthew 26:48). Along with this came the vulnerability and disrespect of being arrested like a common criminal. It’s…

Throughout his life Jesus lived above shame, an example for us to follow. When crucified, he willingly submitted to his death, while scorning its shame (Hebrews 12:2). The Psalms prophesied it: “To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and…

The New Testament story of the woman suffering from a bleeding gives us a vivid picture of Jesus’ healing power and how he overturns shame. Recall the story of how she reached out to Jesus. “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought,…